Clothing with cooling patch

ABSTRACT

Clothing article mainly for sportswear use, comprising at least one perforated PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) cooling material insert. With this insert the achieved goals are that the clothing that include them have a greater evaporative surface increasing the cooling effect, greater elasticity to allow adaptability to the body and comfort, less weight and better aesthetics.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention falls within the field of clothing, in particularclothing for sports and/or therapeutic uses, with skin coolingproperties so as to help reduce the user's body temperature.

BACKGROUND

Currently, there are different types of cooling garments, mainlyintended for work activities, made in part or in full with absorbentfabrics of polyester fibers or synthetic polymeric materials. Thus, forexample, from US 2012/0276332 A1 the use of composite materials inclothing or footwear comprising layers having different properties, suchas water repellent, antimicrobial, thermal insulation, andredistribution of body heat, is known.

Other garments are also known that include absorbent or super absorbentmaterials, such as baby diapers. To this particular, for example, is thedocument WO 2018/199974 A1, which discloses baby diapers that comprisevarious layers, some of which may contain absorbent materials.

There are documents in the prior art that have contemplated theperforation of inserts in absorbent articles such as diapers, asdescribed in WO 2018/182601 A1, but in this case the function of theperforations is different, namely to provide channels through whichexudate can pass so that they can be absorbed into the absorbent layeradjacent to that of the adsorbent material. This is a function verydifferent from that of the perforated inserts used in the presentinvention since, in the case of the present invention, the intendedfunction is that, thanks to the adiabatic cooling effect, the users skinresults refrigerated.

Finally, document US 2007/0163027 A1 describes articles of clothing,among which can be found as headbands, wristbands, gloves, shirts,shorts, etc., which include a water absorbent material such as PVAwithout perforations. This document indicates that these types ofarticles are intended to reduce body temperature; however, in practicethese garments are little or not suitable for sports practice ortherapeutic applications, mainly due to the total absence of elasticityof the absorbent material, as well as the poor evaporation of sweat ofthe mentioned absorbent material, since the sweat absorbed by theabsorbent material described in this document must pass through its fullthickness before it can reach the outside and evaporate there.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide articles of clothing,particularly intended for sportswear, that improve the skin's coolingproperties known from the prior art, and also provide them with greaterelasticity as well as better evaporation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Consequently, the problem to be solved in the present invention is thatof providing garments, mainly for sportswear, that improve the coolingproperties known from the prior art and that also provide them withgreater elasticity.

The solution to this problem is based on the fact that the inventorshave identified that it is possible to achieve the indicated objectivesby means of articles of clothing that have been provided with insertsmade of PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) material, on which a series ofperforations have been made. These perforations should be large enoughto allow greater elasticity of the clothing article as a whole, but notso much as to weaken the material's resistance to tearing and tensilestrength. Likewise, it is also possible that the perforations do notcompletely cross the entire thickness of the insert, but it may besufficient for them to partially cross it, if the desired increase inelasticity is already achieved in this way.

In this regard, it should be noted that PVA foam is currently usedcommercially in products very different from the use given in thepresent invention, since this material can be found commonly inabsorbent strips used in mops for floor cleaning. In this type ofproducts, the liquid absorption capacity of the PVA foam is veryadvantageous for the intended purpose. However, PVA foam has apeculiarity that when it dries, it becomes a hard, rigid material, roughto the touch and that tends to form wrinkles, which makes it verydisadvantageous when used in garments for human use, and moreparticularly for sportswear, which are usually worn particularly tightto the body, since a rigid and rough material would not only be veryunsightly, but fundamentally highly uncomfortable for the athlete.

It is for this reason that, in the prior art documents, the layers thatsports garments are sometimes equipped with are not normally made of PVAbut of other materials, in order to avoid the disadvantages of PVA foamwhen it dries.

However, the few documents that, to the knowledge of the inventors,describe layers in sports garments made of PVA foam such as US2007/0163027 A1 and US2014/0223634 A1 do not provide any solution tothis problem. In the first of these, this problem is not mentioned, andin the second, although it is recognized that, when the PVA spongedries, it becomes a relatively hard and rigid material, the onlysolution that this document contributes to this problem is to soak thePVA sponge layer in water or other liquids, which obviously does notrepresent any solution to the user when using such a sportswear, sinceit is not possible to maintain the PVA foam during use permanentlymoistened without drying in minutes.

In the present invention, this problem has been addressed by a differentapproach, namely, by perforating the PVA foam in the form of an insert.As the inventors have found, in making such perforations, the garmentstill largely retains its elasticity even though it is relatively dry,preventing it from becoming a dry, hard and rough material. Obviously,if the PVA foam is moistened, the elasticity and pleasant feel of thematerial are even better but, in any case, these properties are muchhigher when the PVA sponge has been perforated than when it is not.

In relation to documents US 2007/0163027 A1 and US2014/0223634 A1,although in some cases this problem is recognized, however no solutionto it is described. And, on the other hand, in the prior art there aredocuments in which perforations have been made in different types ofclothing components, in particular sports clothing, such as for exampledocuments US2017/0332715 A1 or US 2003/0061650 A1. However, in thesedocuments, in which the layers are not made of PVA, the objective of theperforations is to facilitate perspiration from the skin, transferringthe user's sweat from the inner layer to the outer fabric, so that itcan dissipate. On the contrary, in the present invention, theperforations are intended for a very different purpose, namely, to makethe PVA foam, and consequently the sportswear as a whole, have anelasticity that it would not have in the absence of such perforations.Consequently, it would not be obvious to the expert in the previoustechnique to perforate PVA foams in order to achieve the aforementionedadvantages, and in particular the improved elasticity of sportswearcontaining PVA inserts even when they get dry to some degree.

Therefore, in a first aspect the invention is aimed to a clothingarticle comprising a main material made of textile, such as cotton orother natural or synthetic materials, and at least one insert attachedby at least one of its sides to the mentioned main material, in whichthe insert consists of a mesh of mainly textile material covered on atleast one of its faces by a coating comprising at least 70% by volume ofpolyvinyl alcohol foam (PVA), characterised in that the insert presentsperforations or holes.

In a second aspect, the invention also relates to a container containingthe clothing article according to the invention, which allows it to bepreserved with a certain relative humidity, necessary for the coolinginserts to retain their elasticity, since as mentioned, when they drythey become stiff.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic image of the cooling inserts described in thepresent invention, showing the perforations made in them.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a sportswear garment that includes aperforated absorbent insert in the area of the side under the armpit.

FIG. 3 shows a rear view of the sportswear garment of the previousfigure, showing perforated absorbent inserts on both sides, as well asin the lower area of the neck.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a front view of a sportswear garment, which in thiscase is preferably for female use, and which has perforated absorbentinserts on the sides under the armpit, as well as in the lower area ofthe neck and shoulders.

FIG. 6 shows a headband containing perforated absorbent inserts in twolateral areas thereof.

FIG. 7 shows a suitable container for keeping the cooling garmentsaccording to the invention.

DEFINITIONS

Prior to the discussion of the detailed description of the invention,the definition of specific terms related to the main aspects of thepresent invention is provided below.

By “absorbent material” is meant herein a material that is capable ofabsorbing at least 10 times its weight in water.

“Garment or clothing article” means any clothing article that can beworn by a user. In preferred embodiments, these garments are preferablysportswear garments, including T-shirts, pants (either short or long),headbands, wristbands, training suits, socks, and even underwear orfootwear.

By “insert” is meant a piece of material that is inserted in certainareas of articles of clothing and attached to the main material of theclothing article generally by seams that can be of different types.

By “PVA insert” is meant an insert that is made of a mesh of mainlytextile material on which a coating made of at least 70% by volume ofPVA material in form of foam is applied at least on one of its faces,but preferably both, and which can be composed by up to the remaining30% by volume by other polymers, among which are polyester andpolypropylene, among others. In turn, the mesh of textile material canalso carry a proportion of up to 30% by volume of other elasticmaterials or elastomers such as elastane (also called spandex),materials mentioned by way of illustration only and without limitationthereto. In this way, the resulting mesh has improved elasticity, whichcan be very advantageous in preferred embodiments of the invention. Inthe present invention, the mesh assembly plus the coating layer orlayers of PVA or other materials are considered to form a single layeror insert, which is why in the present invention this set is called“monolayer”. Consequently, when in the present description it isindicated that the insert is “monolayer”, it should be understood thatit contains a single layer of the indicated material, consisting of amesh of mainly textile material covered on at least one of its faces byPVA in the form of foam and optionally other materials. It is desirablethat the insert used in the present invention is monolayer, that is, itconsists of a single layer of material covered on at least one of itsfaces by a PVA foam coating and optionally other materials. Given thatone of the features to be sought by using inserts in the presentinvention is to provide elasticity to the garment as a whole, if theinserts were made up of several layers of material, in particular layersof inelastic materials or elastic materials which are substantially lesselastic than that of the described material, the elasticity of thegarment as a whole would be compromised, which would be highlyinconvenient for an eminently sports garment. However, it could befeasible that the insert was made up of several layers of PVA coating,since in this way the elasticity would not be compromised.

By “perforation” or “hole” is meant a hole made in one or more pieces ofthe material that make up the garments described herein and that, ingeneral, can have any shape (circular, square, rectangular, rhomboidal,etc.), although it is preferably circular in shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on incorporating one or more inserts ofabsorbent material into preferably sports and/or therapeutic clothingarticles in order to obtain a reduction in the users thermal load, whichcauses the user to increase the feeling of comfort, relief and freshnesson the one hand, and on the other hand preserves the user's energy,optimizing performance during physical exercise. The inserts used in thegarments of the present invention are perforated, which gives them anelasticity that the garments of previous technique do not have, as wellas a greater capacity of sweat evaporation.

The garments of the present invention take advantage of the latent heatabsorption properties of the water when it evaporates (effect called“adiabatic cooling”) of the inserts included therein. The evaporation ofwater occurs spontaneously by absorbing this heat from the outside,whether in the form of radiation, convection or conduction. Essentially,the inserts produce an adiabatic cooling, as a result of the evaporationof the moisture embedded in the inserts, as they are in contact with theenvironment and with human skin and, as a final effect, the decrease inbody temperature.

Conceptually, the inserts used in the garments of the present inventionare water absorbent materials that can contain it molecularly inside, inwhich a series of perforations have been made, which reduces theirweight, increases the evaporative capacity of the absorbed water, andgive elasticity to the mentioned material and, therefore, to theclothing article as a whole in which it is inserted.

The absorbent material used in the inserts is polyvinyl alcohol (orPVA), which has undergone a series of perforations, and which isinserted into a garment whose main material is not necessarily moistureabsorbent. These main materials can be either natural fabrics such ascotton, or artificial fabrics (so-called “technical fabrics”), indifferent combinations between them. These fabrics normally have amajority composition of synthetic fibers, preferably polyester,polyamide or any combination of such materials with lower percentages ofnatural and/or artificial fibers (cotton, cellulosic), and elastomericfibers to achieve highly elastic fabrics.

The use of absorbent material in the form of elastic inserts integratedinto the garment also allows the design of garments that fully adapt toanthropometric measures, notably improving the user's comfort as well asthe aesthetics.

The inserts made of absorbent material are intended to be in directcontact with the skin, so they are located in strategic areas of thegarment where the cooling effect may be higher, as these areas of thebody present a higher density of blood capillaries and nerve endings.Among these areas we can find, without limitation and in an exclusivelyillustrative way, the following:

-   -   Low area of the nape, under the armpit and under the thorax,        ideal for sports shirts;    -   Groin area, ideally for sports pants;    -   Front area and temples, ideally for sports headbands;    -   Circumference or perimeter on sports wristbands;    -   External limb rotation zone, ideal for therapeutic knee, ankle        and elbow pads.

For the cooling effect to occur, the garment, and especially the coolinginserts, must be in direct contact with the skin, so the most suitabledesign or trim of the garments is that of the compression orsemi-compression type. To improve comfort in this type of garment, flator “flat-lock” type seams are preferably used, as well as seams gluedwith elastic adhesive, or even ultrasonic welded seams, and in certainparts of the garment elastic seams are also accepted when attachinglaser-cut materials.

In the present invention, as indicated in the “Definitions” section,“PVA inserts” are inserts that are composed of a mesh of mainly textilematerial on which it is applied, on at least one of its faces, althoughpreferably in both, a coating composed of at least 70% by volume of PVAin the form of a foam, which in turn can be made by up to the remaining30% by volume by other polymers such as polyester or polypropylene. Inturn, the mesh of textile material can also carry a proportion of up to30% by volume of other elastic or elastomeric materials such as elastane(also called spandex), cited for illustrative purposes only and withoutlimitation thereto. In this way, the resulting mesh has improvedelasticity, which can be very advantageous in preferred embodiments ofthe invention.

In the present invention, the inserts of absorbent material have beenperforated punching holes on them, in order to increase the surface incontact with the environment and thus increase the effect of adiabaticcooling, in addition to providing them with elasticity, allowing greatadaptability of the garment as a whole, with the added effect of greatercomfort and better aesthetics. Another benefit obtained is a notablereduction in the weight of the absorbent material, which by itself,especially when soaked, turns out to be several times heavier than themain fabric of the garment in which it is integrated.

The cooling inserts are perforated with perforations of a predetermineddiameter, and ideally spaced to optimize the achievement of foureffects: greater evaporative surface to increase the cooling effect,elasticity to allow adaptability to the body and comfort, less weightand better aesthetics.

The perforations or holes in the absorbent material are preferably madeusing an automatic textile laser on a numerical control machine. Thelaser sublimates the absorbent material by rapid combustion at hightemperature, leaving a very careful finish and without traces of burns,as well as the cauterization of the edges of the perforations, whichavoids breaking or fraying at the edges.

Another embodiment of the perforations is by means of a metal plate withspikes, which is mechanically actuated by exerting pressure on thematerial, although the finishing in this case is inferior to the lasersystem.

Since the PVA material and as well as the mesh it has inside aresubstantially inelastic in nature, and since it is desirable to use themin compression or semi-compression garments that require highelasticity, when practicing in the material a series of perforations, itachieves a greater elasticity, while maintaining high values ofmechanical resistance so that it cannot be easily broken by traction ortearing.

When using the PVA material as inserts for the manufacturing of coolinggarments, the handling of said material must be done keeping it moist,since if it were to dry completely, the PVA would remain rigid anddeformed, making its correct application impossible. Therefore, thegarment should preferably be stored in containers that maintain a highrelative humidity (greater than 85%) inside it, so that the garment isready for use as soon as it is removed from its container. If not, theitem of clothing, and more particularly its inserts, may need to bemoistened, for example by dispersing a small amount of water over them,and then wait briefly until the water has been absorbed by the materialof the insert.

The inserts used in the present invention are preferably thin, withpreferred thicknesses of between 0.5 and 2 mm when dry, and between 1.5and 3 mm when wet. These inserts contain perforations of differentdimensions, which generally must be large and/or numerous enough tocarry out their intended function of providing greater flexibility andsweat evaporation, but they must not be so large and/or numerous as tocompromise its resistance to tearing. Thus, in general, the spacing ofthe perforations, measured from the center to the center of two adjacentperforations, may be in the range of 3 to 15 mm, more preferably 4 to 10mm. It is also possible to vary the diameter of the perforations, whichcan be between 0.5 and 5 mm, more preferably between 1 and 2 mm.Likewise, within the present invention, different combinations of theparameters relative to the distance between perforations and thediameters of the perforations are considered included, and thepossibility that both parameters may be the same, different or evenvariable within the same insert is contemplated, or even from one insertto another of the same clothing article, with the sole premise that theabove conditions regarding elasticity and evaporation on the one hand,and mechanical resistance on the other are met.

In order to establish the optimal relationship and design betweenperforations, the following significant variables were considered, whichwere optimized through different tests of tensile strength, garmentelasticity, air convection (ventilation) and adiabatic capacity:

-   -   Perforation area    -   Distance between holes centers

For the selection of significant versus non-significant variables, thestatistical methodology of Analysis of Variance was used.

The optimal number of perforations (as it results from the variablesmentioned above) and how these are distributed on the surface of theinserts, was therefore determined experimentally. Based on the testscarried out, it was concluded that optimally, the perforations have adiameter of between 1 and 2 mm, with a typical separation betweencenters of the perforations between 5 and 10 mm. In this way, based onthe fact that the original material has a weight of 415 g/m2, we obtaina significant reduction in weight of 19% with perforations of 2 mm at 8mm distance, and 27% with perforations of 2 mm at 5 mm distance.

In relation to the container containing the clothing article accordingto the invention, in order to achieve the relative humidity inside sothat the cooling inserts retain their elasticity, in addition toventilating and preventing the production of bad odors which may developdue to the metabolic activity of fungi and bacteria, the container ispreferably provided with a single circular hole, located at its base inthose cases in which the container is generally cylindrical in shape,and which has a diameter of between 3 and 6 mm. The physical mechanismsought to promote ventilation is based on the principle of balancing thedifferential pressure between the inside of the container and theoutside environment. Microbial, aerobic and anaerobic activity produces,over time, an increase in the initial pressure of the atmosphere insidethe container, due to the molecular transformation of hydrogen, oxygenand nitrogen into organic and inorganic gaseous residues generated bythe metabolic activity of bacteria and fungus. Because these gaseousresidues are molecules that are at higher different partial pressures,and since the variations in temperature outside the container will alsoproduce different pressures of the atmosphere inside and outside, thehole will act as a shut-off valve balanced fluid dynamics between bothatmospheres, allowing the progressive evacuation of part of the interioratmosphere of the container to the outside and, consequently,ventilating the interior.

The container's closure system is preferably a screw cap or a pressurecap, which has on its inner side an absorbent non-woven material orsilica salt, helping to balance excess of moisture inside, as well asminimizing germ development. The absorbent material may optionally beimpregnated with a perfumed essential oil or a sanitizer for textileuse. In this way the garment is ready for use as soon as it is removedfrom the container.

EXPERIMENTAL TESTS

During the period July-August-September 2018, a series of tests werecarried out by internet influencers, with temperatures between 30 and40° C. and different relative humidity, at different times of the day,with cloudy and sunny conditions, using sportswear garments thatincluded cooling inserts as described above with optimal perforationpatterns, i.e. with perforations in diameter between 1 and 2 mm and witha center-to-center separation of perforations between 5 and 10 mm. Theserunners observed that, in comparison with garments known from the stateof the technique, when using garments according to the invention theyobtained the following effects:

-   -   Less fatigue.    -   Less sweating.    -   Greater freshness.    -   Improved marks.    -   Higher performance.    -   Reduced risk of heat stress.

From these tests the benefits obtained by the garments according to theinvention are clearly observed.

From the readings of the present description, the skilled person will beable to conceive different variants and combinations between thedifferent explained embodiments. All of these combinations are intendedto be included within the scope of the present invention, with no otherlimitation than that of the attached claims.

1. Clothing article comprising a main material made of textile and atleast one insert attached by at least one of its sides to the cited mainmaterial, wherein the insert consists of a mesh of mostly textilematerial covered on at least one of its faces by a coating comprising atleast 70% by volume of polyvinyl alcohol foam (PVA), characterised inthat the insert is provided with perforations or holes.
 2. Clothingarticle according to claim 1, wherein the mesh of mostly textilematerial further comprises other elastic materials such as elastane,also called spandex, in up to 30% by volume of its composition. 3.Clothing article according to claims 1, wherein the mesh coatingcontains up to 30% by volume of other polymeric materials such aspolyester or polypropylene.
 4. Clothing article according to claims 1,wherein the perforations of the insert are separated from each other bya distance of between 3 and 15 mm, measured from center to centerthereof.
 5. Clothing article according to claim 1, wherein theperforations of the insert are separated from each other by a distanceof between 4 and 10 mm, measured from center to center thereof. 6.Clothing article according to claims 1, wherein the perforations of theinsert have a diameter of between 0.5 and 5 mm.
 7. Clothing articleaccording to claim 1, wherein the insert perforations have a diameterbetween 0.5 and 2 mm.
 8. Clothing article according to claims 1, inwhich all the perforations of the same insert have the same size andspacing between them.
 9. Clothing article according to claims 1, inwhich the perforations of the same insert have a different size and/orseparation between them.
 10. Clothing article according to claims 1,wherein the insert has a thickness of between 0.5 and 2 mm when it issubstantially dry.
 11. Clothing article according to claims 1, whereinthe insert is attached to the main material of the clothing article inone or more of the following areas of said article: Low area of thenape, under the armpit and under the thorax, in the case of sportsshirts; Groin area in the case of sports pants; Front area and templesin the case of sports headbands; Circumference or perimeter, in the caseof sports wristbands; External zone of rotation of the limbs, in thecase of knee, ankle and elbow pads.
 12. Clothing article according toclaims 1, wherein the inserts are attached to the main material of theclothing article by flat-lock type seams, elastic adhesive bonded seams,ultrasonic welded seams, or elastic bonded seams for attaching laser-cutmaterials.
 13. Clothing article according to claims 1, which is aclothing article for sports or therapeutic use.
 14. Clothing articleaccording to claim 1, selected from the group consisting of T-shirts,shorts or long pants, headbands, wristbands, anklebands, training suits,socks, underwear and footwear.
 15. Container comprising at least oneclothing article according to claims 1, which presents at its base or atleast one of its walls at least one hole with a diameter between 3 and 6mm that allows it to keep inside the container a relative humidity of atleast 85%.